F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has delivered the final blow to Donignton Park's twitching corpse, saying that there was no hope of the British GP contract with the track being revived, as talks with Silverstone continued in Abu Dhabi.
Since the final deadline for the track to deliver funding guarantees to Ecclestone passed, there has been no official announcements from either the FIA or the track bosses as to the situation regarding the deal, though rumours circulated that Donington's chief Simon Gillett had made a payment of funds to FOM right at the last moment to try and keep the track's hopes alive.
But Ecclestone told reporters in Abu Dhabi that Donington's chances of going ahead with it's 17-year deal to host the British Grand Prix were now over.
"There's no Donington. They've missed the deadline which we kept extending for them," Ecclestone shrugged, "It's unfortunate for them, to be honest with you. It was the credit crunch that caused them to be in trouble because their intentions were good, that's for sure.
"It's bad for Tom [Wheatcroft - the circuit owner] because he's been an old friend for a long time."
As to the progress of Silverstone's efforts to negotiate a deal with Bernie to take over the contract, Ecclestone said the talks were ongoing. Reports say that Richard Phillips, the managing director of Silverstone, is in Abu Dhabi to discuss the situation with Bernie.
"We're talking. A deal can be done if they want to," Bernie said coyly, saying on the subject of reported disagreements over the proposed contract that: "There isn't [any disagreement] actually. As far as I'm concerned, no problems."
A 'Silverstone insider' was quoted in the Guardian newspaper as being cautious about the negotiations. "Nobody wants to talk about it for fear of jeopardising any possible deal," the insider was quoted as saying, "Negotiations are at a very delicate stage."
Ecclestone also took time to praise the Yas Marina track, the newest on F1's calendar, ahead of it's inaugural race on Sunday. "I never thought it would be finished like this," Bernie gushed, "I thought bits and pieces would be done. I said to them 'I hope we're not going to be racing on a building site.' But no one is going to top this... although I'll be happy if someone does the same."
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